Douglas Thor IRBM (XSM-75) was launched at Cape Canaveral, Fla., destroyed by range safety officer. The missile was actually on course throughout its flight. The console wiring error led the range safety officer to believe it was headed inland rather than out to sea, so he hit the destruct button.

This dramatic failure resulted in a loss of thrust, and the lateral strap-on units separated and flew over the tracking stations and living areas. The core continued on its trajectory.
References: 5 , 175 , 445 .

Second Soviet replenishable long-duration ‘civilian’ space station. Objectives: Continuation of scientific research on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the Soviet national economy; testing of advanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Continuation of the scientific research in progress on board manned space complexes in the interests of science and the national economy; testing of advanced systems and apparatus for orbital stations. Although of the same design as Salyut 6, technical breakdowns throughout its life made Salyut 7 a much less productive station. Replaced finally by Mir. Two different TKS resupply craft, originally designed for the Almaz military station, docked with Salyut 7 to provide a larger complex. With the cancellation of Almaz, a large proportion of the experiments carried out on board had military objectives. As of January 1990 out of fuel, unable to manoeuvre, uncontrolled re-entry expected in three to four years. Re-entered in 1991 with 70 kg fuel remaining over Argentina. Controllers attempted to control impact point (set for Atlantic Ocean) by setting Salyut 7/Kosmos 1686 assembly into a tumble. This however failed and Salyut 7 re-entered February 7, 1991 04:00 GMT. Many fragments fell on the town of Capitan Bermudez, 25 km from Rosario and 400 km from Buenos Aires, Argentina. At 1 am local time the sky was lit up with hundreds of incandescent meteors travelling from Southwest to Northeast. At dawn the inhabitants discovered numerous metal fragments, which seemed to have fallen in distinct groups at various locations in the city. Luckily no one was hurt in the metallic shower.
Additional Details: Salyut 7. References: 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 67 , 274 , 299 .